4. Old English alphabet and pronunciation

The majority of OE records are written in the insular alphabet based on the Latin alphabet with the addition of a number of signs taken from the Runic alphabet (w, , þ, ð).

Old English spelling was mainly phonetic, i.e. each letter as a rule denoted one sound in every environment. The letters of the OE alphabet shown below are supplied with transcription symbols, if their sound values in OE differ from the sound values normally attached to them in Latin and other languages.

Old English Alphabet

a, æ, b, c [k] or [k’] (soft), e, f [f] or [v],  [g], [g’], [γ] or [j], h [x], [x’] or [h], i, k, l, m, n [n], [ŋ], o, p, r, s [s] or [z], t, þ [ð] or [θ], u, w, x, y [y] (front labialized).

Pronunciation of most letters in the OE alphabet generally coincides with the conventional pronunciation of the corresponding Latin letters: cf. OE etan [étan] «есть», faran [fáran] «ехать, передвигаться», oxa [óksa] «вол». However, some letters have peculiar Old English pronunciation:

1. The letter c is used to denote two sounds: 1) the hard velar k and 2) the soft palatal k’ (which gradually developed into the soft affricate [C]. E.g. 1) OE cunnan [kúnnan] NE “know”; OE macian [mákian] NE “make”; 2) OE cēosan [k’ēozan] NE “choose”, OE tǽcan [tǽk’an] NE “teach”.

In the cluster sc the letter c almost always indicates the sound [k’]: OE scacan [sk’akan] NE “shake”; OE fisc [fisk’] NE “fish”.

2. The letters f, s and þ, ð stand for voiced fricatives between vowels and also between a vowel and a voiced consonant; otherwise they indicate corresponding voiceless fricatives:

f OE ofer ['over] ‘over’ OE feohtan ['feoxtan] ‘fight’

selfa ['selva] ‘self” oft [oft] ‘often’

s rīsan [' ri:zan] ‘rise’ rās [ra:s] ‘rose’

āst [ga:st] ‘ghost’

þ,∂ ōðer ['o:ðer] ‘other’ ðæt [θæt] ‘that’

wyrþe ['wyrðe]‘worthy’ lēoþ [leo:θ] ‘song’

3. The letter  stands for [g] initially before back vowels, for [j] before and after front vowels, for [γ] between back vowels and for [g’] mostly when preceded by c: OE ān [g], ēar [j], dæ [j], daas [γ], secan [gg] (NE “go”, “year”, “day”, “days”, “say”).

4. The letter h indicates: 1) the glottal fricative [h] – at the beginning of the syllable (except in the position before w); 2) the velar fricative [χ] and the soft palatal fricative [ç]. E.g. (1) OE hūs [hu:s] “house”, ehīeran [jehīeran] “hear” («услышать») – (2, a) OE eahta [ǽaχta] “eight”; seolh [seolχ] “seal” («тюлень»); hwā [χwa:] “who”; (2, b) OE siehþ [sięçþ] “sees”; miehti [míęçtij] “mighty”. In the cluster hw the letter h always seems to indicate the velar [χ].

5. The letter y usually indicates the sound [y] (rendered by ü in German and u in French), e.g. OE fyllan [fyllan] NE “fill”, mynet [mynet] NE “coin” («монета»); ỹ is the corresponding long sound: OE fỹr [fỹr] NE “fire”. In many later texts y (ỹ) can also indicate i (ī), since in some dialects OE [ỹ] delabialized into [ī].

The following sentences supplied with transcription and a translation into Modern English illustrate the use of the alphabet in OE. The passage is taken from Ohthere’s account of his voyage round the Scandinavian peninsula, inserted by King Alfred in his translation of Orosius’ WORLD HISTORY (West Saxon dialect, 9^th c.):

Ohthere sæde his hlāforde Ælfrēde

['o:xtxere 'sæ:de his 'xla:vorde 'ælfre:de]

"Ohthere said (to) his lord Alfred

cynine þæt hē ealra Norðmanna norþmest

['kynie θæt he: 'ealra 'norθ"manna 'norθ"mest]

king that he (of) all Northmen to the North

būde ... þā fōr he iet norþryhte

['bu:de θa: fo:r he: jiet 'norθ"ryx’te]

lived (had lived). Then sailed he yet (farther) northwards

swā feor swā hē meahte on þæm

[swa: feor swa: he: 'meaxte on θæ:m]

as far as he might (could) in the

ōþrum þrīm daum esilan.

['o:ðrum θri:m 'daγum je'siγlan]

other three days sail".